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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23126059">Charlotte Sometimes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanesupernova/pseuds/arcanesupernova'>arcanesupernova</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Always Have Been, Always Will Be - A Series of One-Shots [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, but i had to write it so here it is, i don't even know what this is, no apotheosis, this is what I get for trying to be pOeTiC, tw: abuse mention</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 06:41:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,258</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23126059</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanesupernova/pseuds/arcanesupernova</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>The tears were pouring down her face</i>
  <br/>
  <i>She was crying and crying for a girl</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Who died so many years before</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Charlotte has a problem and only one person can see it for what it really is, at first.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Charlotte/Ted (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Always Have Been, Always Will Be - A Series of One-Shots [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099445</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Charlotte Sometimes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I read a lot of Charlotte/Ted fics on here and this vomited into my gDocs. I am so enamored by this ship.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Paul saw Ted and Charlotte everyday. They were his friends.<br/>
Paul knew when he saw the two going home together every Friday night. He knew, but he didn't care.</p><p>Emma recognized Charlotte and dreaded Ted. Charlotte was sweet, Ted was an asshole.<br/>
Emma noticed when Ted would order Charlotte's order even when he was alone. Maybe he wasn't so terrible, she decided.</p><p>Bill ignored it when Charlotte begged and cried into the phone for her husband to keep one promise he made her. He ignored it because there was nothing he could do.<br/>
Bill watched as Ted made a casual beeline to Charlotte's side one the handle went back into the receiver. He tuned out his sleazy coworker as he checked in on her when he couldn’t be bothered.</p><p>Melissa commented, once, about how attentive to Charlotte Ted was at work. Ted chastised her, reminding her of everything Charlotte was going through.<br/>
Melissa acknowledged and backed off, making a mental note of the caring middle shoved so far under Ted's sleazeball exterior.</p><p>Charlotte needed Sam to acknowledge her, to show her an ounce of the care that Ted showered her in when he took her home at night. He agreed to counseling even though he didn't see the point of it.<br/>
Charlotte wanted Ted to get her mind off of the stress of her home life. He was more than happy to oblige, offering to take her home on the odd Wednesday or Thursday to help dull the ache.</p><p>Ted told Charlotte he loved her in his pitch black room one night. She didn't reply and he didn't care because she snuggled in closer to him and for tonight, that was enough.<br/>
Ted loved Charlotte in every way that hurt, but watching her dance around his kitchen when he made her dinner made every pinprick of pain worth it for him. Her smile was worth more than his entire being, not that that was saying much.</p><p>Sam found a message on Charlotte's phone from someone named 🧸. He threw the phone at Charlotte, shattering the fragile device against the wall as he screamed at her for her infidelity.<br/>
Sam left Charlotte, worse for wear but alive with the threat that he would be back later, after he’d cooled off.</p><p>Paul walked to Ted’s desk to offer a coffee run, only to find the man frazzled, his hair pushed in every direction but the way it had been when he walked in. He opted not to ask about the endless stream of sent messages he could see on his phone, instead walking away before he was spotted.<br/>
Paul realized Charlotte’s desk was empty. He hadn’t seen her all day.</p><p>Emma grew worried when Ted came in, his nose in his phone and his jacket only halfway on. He only ordered his drink and left without a word, or tip.<br/>
Emma followed Ted to the door with her eyes, for once dismayed at the lack of interaction. He must have fought with Charlotte, she surmised. </p><p>Bill got the call from Sam. Charlotte was in the hospital, but she was fine.<br/>
Bill informed the office before leaving to tell Mr. Davidson. When he returned, Ted was gone.</p><p>Melissa screamed as the door slammed against the wall. Ted’s eyes were red.<br/>
Melissa moved out of the way at the last second as Ted headed for the elevator. The assault on the ‘down’ button proved to not be enough as he disappeared down the stairwell.</p><p>Charlotte opened her eyes to find a nurse looking down at her, concerned. Questions she didn’t want to answer were asked and Charlotte fought with herself about what the “correct” answer was.<br/>
Charlotte lied to the nurse, she had simply fallen on the ice outside of their house. The nurse shook her head in disapproval, the hand shaped bruises on her arms screaming the truth.</p><p>Ted stormed into the hospital, torn between whether or not he wanted to find Sam here. His main concern was to see Charlotte, but giving Sam a taste of his own medicine was an option too sweet to just ignore.<br/>
Ted choked at the sight of her lying there in that hospital bed, her skin peppered with red, black and blue. Any thoughts of vengeance disappeared as he came to her side, only to receive a look of terror when she saw him.</p><p>Sam stayed away from the hospital, spending most of his time smoothing things over with the first responders that had arrived at the scene. Charlotte had fallen, and that’s what was going to go down in their reports.<br/>
Sam went to see her, but was denied entry. Not by the nurses, but by a chair lodged up against the door.</p><p>Paul was surprised to see Charlotte back to work so soon. The skin around her eye was yellowed now, but the scar on her upper lip would remain.<br/>
Paul consoled Ted when Charlotte refused to speak to him. Things at the hospital had not gone well and she now wanted nothing to do with him.</p><p>Emma tried to talk to Charlotte, when she ordered her hot tea. Charlotte offered a small smile but declined the interaction.<br/>
Emma demanded information from Ted when he finally showed his face in there again, accusations flying off the hip. Ted took the abuse without a fight, knowing he was to blame.</p><p>Bill comforted Charlotte on her lunch break when she realized she had forgotten something in Sam’s lunch that morning. It pained him to watch his friend cry over an apple.<br/>
Bill decided to speak up, to recommend leaving her husband only for Charlotte to storm off without another word. She avoided eye contact with him for the rest of the day, and Bill’s heart ached for it.</p><p>Melissa insisted that Charlotte joined her for a Beanie’s run. Charlotte resisted at first, but was swayed when Ted entered the office.<br/>
Melissa cornered Charlotte as they sat down with their coffee. Ted, Bill and Paul swarmed around her trying their best to not overwhelm her with their support and concern.</p><p>Charlotte listened to her coworkers, even the odd comment from the nosy barista. They weren’t going to let her leave until they had come to a solution for what they considered a problem, but she saw more as an annoyance.<br/>
Charlotte seemed to be on board with their suggestions and walked out of the coffee shop with her head held high. She would leave Sam, for good and if he tried to stop her, then Bill, Ted, Paul and a very insistent Emma would be there to help her.</p><p>Ted stopped Charlotte on her way out of work that night. He wouldn’t admit it but he was desperate to hear her voice again. <br/>
Ted offered her a place to stay while she got back on her feet but Charlotte only shook her head and asked him if he was asking for himself or for her. Ted didn’t have an answer.</p><p>Sam didn’t take it well when Charlotte gave him the divorce papers with her trembling hand. He didn’t know about the people swarmed outside, waiting for one raised voice.<br/>
Sam let Charlotte walk out of the house that night, but not without a fight. Ted took the worst of it, having stormed in at the first sound of distress.</p><p>Paul saw Ted and Charlotte everyday. They were his friends.<br/>
Paul knew when Charlotte gave him the first genuine smile he’d seen in years, that he’d made the right choice. He knew, and he’s glad he cared.</p>
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